David Moyes Is Setting Himself Up For A Fall By Pursuing Cesc Fabregas

David Moyes is certainly intent on showing us who the boss is at Manchester United. In his most authoritative move so far, the former Everton boss has made it abundantly clear that Wayne Rooney is going nowhere under his watch. That was not long after cleaning house of the previous regime and bringing in his own trusted back-room staff.

Having seen Thiago slip out of reach, Moyes has turned his attention to another Blaugrana midfielder, with various reports claiming that the former Everton manager has made a £25million bid for Cesc Fabregas.

Bold? You bet. And if Fabregas was to swap Catalonia for Manchester then it would be some coup for the Old Trafford outfit. Fabregas remains a world-class central midfield player who has also proven he can perform in the Premier League. United’s central midfield has remained an area of concern for a while now, and if Fabregas was to sign, then he would give the team a major boost in that area of the pitch.

But before we can even ponder Fabregas donning United red, you have to consider the substantial obstacles that could potentially stop this deal before it gets going. And perhaps the reasons why Moyes shouldn’t really pursue Fabregas with any endeavor.

The first being that Barcelona have already sold one quality midfield player this summer, why would they sell another? Thiago was seen by many as the natural heir to Xavi, but with the La Masia graduate on his way to Bavaria, Fabregas looks as though he could potentially play an extremely significant role for Barca for many years to come.

And that’s not to say he isn’t already a key member of the side. There is a common view that Fabregas is a bit part player for Los Cules and maybe he could move on in search of regular first team football. But this is remarkably misguided, for Victor Valdes aside, no player started more games for Barca last season than Fabregas. He was creative force for the Catalans too, having contributed 11 goals and 11 assists throughout the campaign. (courtesy of WhoScored.com)

Bit part? Not quite.

The Spaniard also has allegiances that could potentially put United out of the running. The most obvious of which is Fabregas’s love for current employers. But he has spoken many times of his continued affection for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal Football Club after both played such a key role in his development. Fabregas has stated in the past that ‘apart from Arsenal and Barcelona, I don’t see myself playing anywhere else.’

Somewhat ironically, if United do have a bid accepted for the Spaniard, then it would seriously enhance the chances of an Arsenal-Fabregas reunion. As part of the deal that initially took Fabregas from The Emirates to the Camp Nou, a clause was included stating the Gunners would have first refusal on the player should Barca decide to sell.

Of course with any dealings with United in their infancy, this scenario remains hypothetical. But all of the above highlight the monumental task Moyes would have in trying to broker this deal. Ambition is admirable, and Moyes clearly has it in bucket-loads, but this transfer just looks like a total non-starter.

Following the fruitless pursuit of Thiago, an unsuccessful chase for Fabregas would only lead to more questions about whether or not Moyes has the ‘star quality’ to attract these types of players. But in reality, his predecessor would have had just as little chance at signing either player.

Moyes is setting himself for a fall with this deal and is perhaps showing some understandable naivety about managing at the elite level. But such is the level of interest surrounding United, there really is no place to hide; Moyes needs to learn quickly. Now that Barcelona have rejected this initial bid, the Manchester United boss should turn his attention to other, more attainable targets.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section or on Twitter: @MattJFootball

About Matt Jones

Matt has been writing for World Soccer Talk for more than two years, contributing pieces about myriad topics and regularly lending his voice to the podcast.
Matt has covered games live for the website from a host of venues, including Wembley, London and the ANZ Stadium, Sydney. He is a regular at Goodison Park where he watches his beloved Everton, but harbours an unyielding interest in all aspects of European soccer.
You can get in touch with Matt via e-mail at mattjones@worldsoccertalk.com or on Twitter @MattJFootball
View all posts by Matt Jones →

11 Responses to David Moyes Is Setting Himself Up For A Fall By Pursuing Cesc Fabregas

I kinda feel like United got played in the Thiago thing. It sounded like Pep had a gentleman’s agreement with Barca not to steal their players. So, he sat back, let a potential deal develop with United for Thiago and THEN he swoops in and basically says, ” I know I said I wouldn’t poach your players, but if Thiago is 100% leaving, I’ll pay you more than United would have paid.” That way he looks decent and not like a poacher.

Regarding Fabregas, he’d be a lovely players for United, but I wonder how/why Barca would sell him. I don’t know enough about Barca’s depth situation. Do they have some young kids who need time or is the cupboard bare after Fabregas leaves?

jokers !!! Cesc aint goin no where? Its either barca or arsenal…gunner 4 life…Why would cesc wanna play for him, yes united is a big club but no more fergie…naa i wouldnt bet on it….the united empire will fall soon. gunner 4 life….. In arsene we trust…

your side has a way to go unless each season is successful finishing 4th and NO silverware.to save you the bash UTD fan i am a Forest fan so i have no dog in the fight.i agree no way in hell Cesc is coming to MUFC.

Meh, I’m not worried about it. If he gets him, that’s aces. If, more likely, he does not, no big deal. United have never come close to getting everyone they placed a bid for, so hanging this failure on Moyes is a bit of a stretch.

you got it just about spot on there mate. but if barca did decide to sell him they would have to take into account the amount that they would sell him for, and you know a 25mil offer from utd would have them rolling in the corridors of barca laughing their socks off. if they were to sell him for 25mil, they’d have to give arsenal half of that, then they’d have to fork out 5mil what they owe arsenal for when barca bought him from them, then the 5mil add-on they’d have to pay arsenal for fabregas’s contribution to their title winning season, and i’m pretty sure arsenal will push for the rest of the money barca owe arsenal on the song deal which would leave them in a deficit. they can only sell him to arsenal realistically, and you can be pretty damn sure he would’nt alienate himself from the arsenal fans who still worship him by doing what the “brave sir robin” did and defect to one of arsenals most hated rivals like utd. the only way he’d come back to england would be to play for his beloved arsenal!

Sorry but did I miss something? Did David Moyes or United make an official offer for Thiago, Fabergas or any other player? These rumours develop mostly by agents to get big money moves so that they can make huge fees.

You will know a United bid has been made when it is on the official site and not before. This is exactly like last year every player who could kick a ball 5 feet was being bid on by United and United signed none of them and because of that United were deemed failures and were going to win nothing blah, blah, blah.

If I remember correctly United won the PL and were basically shafted in the CL. Does United needs a player in the midfield this is debatable, we have a couple of youngsters that look to be the business and we have a very talented Kagawa. Let us see what Adnan can do, stick Will Keane out there and get on with it the Bubsy way, with youngsters. GGMU!!!

Cesc to United won’t happen. And Cesc to Arsenal won’t happen either, unless Arsenal starts winning a few trophies. The Utd midfield is crap, with the exception of Carrick and Kagawa; Anderson is done at Utd, Cleverly is inconsistent and is not creative,Young is subpar at best, Valencia is predictable and had a terrible season. Adnan is young and will only show real impact I 2 seasons or so, same goes for Zaha. So who’s there??? Nobody. If Utd wanna make a statement,look at this guys; De Rossi, Reus, sell Wayne Rooney, Evans, Evra, Nani, Anderson, Macheda, Young, loan Welbeck and bring back Hernandez.Give Chicharitomore starts alongside RvP, play Kagawa in his preffered position, buy Baines and Garay. And say NO to Fellaini.